


Almost

by multifandomgirl17



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Jughead Jones, Bisexual Veronica Lodge, Homophobia, Lesbian Betty Cooper, Mean Archie Andrews, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, No Means No, Rape/Non-con Elements, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:08:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandomgirl17/pseuds/multifandomgirl17
Summary: Betty Cooper wants nothing more than to leave Riverdale. She just has to get through her senior year...but when someone special appears in Riverdale, she's not sure if she really wants to leave the sleepy town this fast.Side Note: English is not my first language :) and Betty´s last name is "Smith" here and not "Cooper" :)
Relationships: Alice Cooper/FP Jones II, Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge/Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Kevin Keller & Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 9





	1. Seventeen

Seventeen

* * *

Betty always was and will be an outsider, that she was sure of. Living on the Southside of town, she never fit in with the kids on the Northside were she went to school and now that she was in High School she had no desire to fit in anymore. In a year she would be off to college anyways and would be able to leave this town and its people behind.

Just one more year, the blonde haired girl thought when she entered school on the first day of junior year. She shouldered her backpack and held on tight to its straps. Then she entered the building. Betty quickly made her way through the crowds of students that were all happy and excited to see their friends and tell them all about their summer. Betty dugged her fingernails into her palm when she saw a raven-haired girl trying to open her locker. ”That’s my locker.”, she snipped and pushed there girl aside. The raven-haired girl was intimidated by the blonde who was at least 10 centimetres taller than her and who wore a black leather jacket and generally locked like she was part of some biker gang or some shit. She still decided to be friendly to her. ”I´m sorry. I´m new here I thought this was my locker but maybe the other girl who showed me my locker just made a mistake. I´m Veronica Lodge.”, the girl said in a friendly voice and put out her hand. ”I dont care and now move!”, Betty said, clearly annoyed of the new girl. Veronica shook her head, thinking how anybody could be so mean. Then she moved away from the girls locker and made her way through the crowd, trying to find the classroom she had English in.

Betty on the other hand regretted being so mean to Veronica. She told herself it was for the best. When Cheryl would see Veronica hanging out with her, she would be an outsider right away, now she had a chance at becoming popular. Something that every girl their age wanted. She slammed the blue locker shut and made her way to English class, hoping she wouldn’t run into Cheryl and her Cheerleaders or Veronica. Betty was lucky on the Cheryl part, but not so lucky on the Veronica part. When she entered the classroom Veronica was sitting at one of the desks in the front row, getting some material and tips from their teacher, Mr Williams. Mr Williams was a middle-aged man, with dark hair that already had some white streaks in them. He was the kind of teacher that got bullied by his own students and half of the other teachers. But his lessons were enjoyable, at least that’s what Betty thought. She made her way through the rows, planting herself at one of the tables in the last row. Mr Williams knew not to bother the blonde, she did her work and she did it good. Veronica also saw the blonde entering the row. When she passed her, Veronica smelled her perfume mixed with the smell of cigarettes.

Suddenly a red-haired girl in a cheerleading uniform entered the classroom. ”Oh no!”, Mr Williams whispered and hushed to his desk in the front of the room and ”Oh no!”, Betty thought when she saw Cheryl. Veronica on the other hand smiled friendly at the, to her unknown, girl. ”Hello, hello, hello! You must be new here. My name is Cheryl Blossom. I´m head cheerleader and student body president. And you are?”, Cheryl chirped. ”Veronica Lodge. And yes, I am new here.”; Veronica answered shaking Cheryls hand. The redhead sat down next to the raven haired girl, scrutinising her from head to toe. ”You, my dear friend, are cheerleader material! You have to join the team! And you have to lose those jeans and hoodie…They are not very stylish!”, she said friendly, but it sounded more like an order to Veronica. Before she could say yes or anything else, the redhead left the table and sat down next to one of her friends who also was in a cheerleading uniform. Betty overheard the conversation and rolled her eyes. It was clear to her, that her cousin would make the new girl a cheerleader. Deep down she had always wished for a friend and the new girl would have been perfect, because she didn’t know yet, that the other kids despised Betty. Slowly other students came into the room and Mr Williams tried starting his lesson.

Nobody except Betty and Veronica were listening to the poor man whose head got redder by the second and who tried to explain their reading assignments for this year. He dismissed the class early. Betty was happy with the reading assignment this year. She already read half of the books and heard of all the others. She was especially excited for the play at the end of the school year that Mr Williams and Mrs Lovings classes would perform together then. She slowly packed her bag waiting until Cheryl and her minions had left the room. She was the only one left in the room except for Mr Williams and…Veronica. ”Ms Smith,Betty, I know this is a lot to ask but Ms Lodge is a bit behind on the reading from last year. She missed two months at her old school and I wanted to ask you if you could help her catch up before we start with our first book this year… I know its a lot to ask but you are one of my best students and to be honest the only one ever listening to me in my lessons…”, Mr Williams asked, his head still red. He looked like a tomato, Veronica thought when she looked at him. Betty sighed, shouldered her backpack and made her way up to the teachers desk and Veronica. ”I dont know if I´m the right person for tutoring someone, but I can try.”, she said and gave the raven-haired girl a smile who just looked at her with a confused look on her face. Veronica was confused on why the blonde now smiled at her when she had been shoved in a locker by her a little over an hour ago. But she also was excited to have Betty as her tutor. Although Betty was intimidating, she was also fascinating with her leather jacket that had a snake embroidered on the back and her black doc martens. At her old school nobody had dressed like her. They all wore school uniforms and the most rebellious act was not wearing the black flats but converse. She sighed at the memory of her old school. She had never heard of Lizzy again.

She snapped out of her thoughts when Betty said: ”I need you phone number so we can agree on our first study session.” Veronica nodded and wrote down her number on a small piece of paper she had ripped out of her notebook. ”I´ll text you.”; Betty said and practically ran out of the room. Veronica followed her but much slower and not before saying goodbye to Mr Williams. Betty ran across the football field and to the bleachers. Under the bleachers she grabbed a cigarette out of her jacket. Holy shit she had to tutor this girl who she just had shoved into a locker. And with that she would be unable to be part of the popular crowd. She took the note with Veronicas number and crumbled it in her hands before letting it disappear in the depths of her backpack. Then she lit her cigarette and when she took the first drew she closed her eyes. She had hated smoking before she started herself. According to her 8-year old self her mother stank and she had always used their last money on the cigarettes even if that meant that little Betty had to go hungry for a few days. But then when Betty turned 13 and Jughead Jones had given her a cigarette after she ran to his trailer for comfort she realised that it was a coping mechanism that not only helped her mom calm down but also herself. And since then every time something stressed her out, she was on the verge of a mental breakdown or something made her angry, she needed a cigarette. When she was done she made her way back to the building crossing the football field once again and sneaking back into school. She was only a few minutes late to her chemistry lesson which didn’t bother her. But what bothered her was the redhead in the first row. She groaned when she sat down at her chair in the last row. She seemed to be unlucky this year and have a lot of classes with her beloved cousin. She doodled on her notebook for the rest of the lesson trying not to look up and murder Cheryl with her looks.

Veronica on the other hand was lost somewhere in the building. After she had left Mr Williams classroom she tried to find the chemistry room and nor the little map she had gotten in the morning by their principal neither the other students were a lot of help. Out of frustration she crumbled the map in her hand and tossed it into the trash can in the girls bathroom. She was about to leave the bathroom stall she was in when she heard the door open. Three girls entered. She didn’t mean to spy on their talking but she did it anyways. “So Cheryl…the new girl…I overheard that Betty will tutor her in English, it is said that she’s a bit behind because she missed two months at her old school. Why do you think she missed school for so long?”, one of the girls, that Veronica didn’t know by name, said. Veronicas heart was beating faster. ”I don´t know Josie, but we will find out! There’s nothing you can hide from me! Beware Veronica Lodge!“, Cheryl answered and just like that the three cheerleaders had left the bathroom. The raven-haired girl gave a sigh of relief. They didn’t know about her secret. Veronica stayed in the bathroom for a few more minutes, just to make sure that the three girls weren’t waiting in front of the bathroom for someone to come out. When she left her stall, she went to one of the white sinks that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since the school had opened its doors a hundred years ago, and splashed some water into her face. It helped her calm down. Cheryl couldn’t find out about what happened at her old school a few month ago. It would ruin the fresh start she just got and all her changes of finally becoming one of the popular girls again. She turned off the water and dried her hands and her face with paper towels. Good thing she didn’t wear any make-up today. Veronica drew out her timetable and left the bathroom, trying to find the way to her next class, since second period would end any minute. And to her surprise she was successful in finding the classroom she had maths in. The classroom was still empty, since the bell had just rung a few seconds ago. The teacher was sitting at his desk, sorting papers, while occasionally looking at the watch on his wrist. Veronica entered the room and sat down at a table next to the window in the second room. The teacher looked up when she sat down and placed her binder on the table. He didn’t say anything to her, but he nodded and then went back to sorting his papers.

”This will be fun…”, Veronica thought and pulled out her notebook and pens. She wasn’t good at maths but at least she was trying and gave her best trying to understand all the absurd questions and equations with one or more unknowns. Slowly the classroom filled up with students that were chattering loudly. The room got quiet when Betty entered the room. ”Hey look! The fag is here! Did you know that gays can´t do maths? Bet you will fail this class!“, some boy with red hair and a varsity jacket yelled. He earned a round of roaring laughs from his friends that were surrounding him. Betty rolled her eyes and flipped Archie off and shouted ”Shut up Archie!“. Then she went to her desk in the back of the room. She wasn’t gay, or at least that’s what she thought. She wasn’t sure herself, but her classmates assumed she was, just because she was more interested in preparing old cars and driving around on her motorbike than in kissing boys and being a cheerleader. When she finally reached her desk and sat down she saw the raven-haired girl sitting at a desk at the window just two rows ahead from her. She already had a bad conscience, because she knew she wouldn’t text her to find a time for them to study together. Then Mr Robbie got up from behind his desk and started with his lesson. To Bettys relief, Cheryl wasn’t in this class with her. Sure Archie was in this class with her, but besides from some snarky commentaries he didn’t do anything to her. His dad would never forgive him, if he knew that his son was a bully, so Archie kept the bullying to a minimum with his words. Betty was used to that but still deep down the words were hurting her. Veronica in the front of the classroom couldn’t really follow Mr Robbie`s lesson, still thinking about what Archie said to Betty. Was she really gay? Veronica made the plan for herself to find that out. Then she tried to focus on the equation that Mr Robbie wrote on the board. The rest of the lesson contained of silent work. They had to solve a number of equations and if they wouldn’t be able to finish them they would have to do them at home. Betty finished after 15 minutes and drew in her notebook for the rest of the time. Archie was equally fast in solving the exercises and then used his pencils as drumsticks. He had done that since first grade and had broken numerous pencils throughout the years but it had always landed him at least one date with a girl, at least since middle school. The only girl he never had impressed with his skills was Betty Smith. The tough Southside princess that wore a black leather jacket from her gang since he could remember and that had always despised Archie. Archie has had a crush on the blonde since 6th grade but he’d never told anyone and had to take part in the ”Betty bullying” of his friends. But in reality he didn’t want to hurt the girl that stole his heart all the years ago, because he knew that his words were hurting her even though she seemed so tough on the outside. He didn’t notice that he was observed by Veronica. Veronica was impressed by Archies drum skills but not with his bullying. And she had to admit, that Archie was extremely attractive. He had muscular arms that were revealed once he had taken off his varsity jacket and abs that showed through his tight white t-shirt. Veronica tried to focus on the numbers and equations on her paper but that didn’t really work, her attention shifted back to Archie.

Finally the bell rang and they were released for lunch. Betty basically sprinted out of the room and vanished in the crowd to avoid further bullying from Archie and his friends. She ran across the football field and hid under the bleachers were she ate her lunch and smoked a cigarette. Veronica on the other hand was determined to get Archies attention. She slowly packed her bag and then followed the boy group to the cafeteria. Lucky for her, Cheryl and the Cheerleaders were there and saved her a spot at the popular table were Archie and his friends sat also. She sat down next to a girl that had pink streaks in her hair. ”Hey! You must be Veronica Lodge. My name is Tony. I´m Cheryls best friend and co-captain of the River Vixens. I´m glad you are our newest addition, we desperately needed some new faces!”, she said and to Veronica, Tony seemed a lot nicer than Cheryl. Cheryl came and sat down on Veronica´s other side. ”So Veronica, tell us something about yourself! What school did you go to? Who are your parents? And most importantly have you laid eyes on any of the boys yet?”,Cheryl said in her usual chirpy voice, but not without some ulterior motive in the back of her head. ”I went to a catholic girls school, St Barbara School for Girls. It`s a private boarding school. And my parents are Hiram and Hermione Lodge. My mom was born here in Riverdale, but she and my grandparents moved to New York when my mom was in her senior year of High School. And no…I haven’t had a chance to get a look at all the boys…”, she said, but not without glancing at Archie. ”I totally saw that!“, Cheryl exclaimed, ”I knew you would find Archie great! He is the quarterback of the football team and the hottest boy in the school, aside from my brother Jason of course. And he doesn’t have a girlfriend. You should ask him to homecoming, it is ladies choice this year!”. Cheryl wiggled her eyebrows and dragged Veronica out of the chair she had been sitting in. She gave the raven-haired girl a little push which made her fall on Archies back. Archie turned around and looked at the girl who just fell against him. Her hair was beautiful and even though she was wearing jeans and a hoodie, he knew that she was smoking hot. “Hey, I´m Archie Andrews. And you are?”, he said friendly and shook her hand. Veronica cheeks turned flashing red and she began sweating. ”I´m…I´m Veronica Lodge. I´m new here…and I wanted…wanted to ask if…if you would like to go to homecoming with me?”


	2. Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eating Disorder

_”I´m…I´m Veronica Lodge. I´m new here…and I wanted…wanted to ask if…if you would like to go to homecoming with me?”_

”Sure, just give me the colour of your dress and your address and I will pick you up on Friday at 7.” He then turned back to his friends and proceeded to eat his lunch. Veronica turned around to Cheryl smirking triumphantly. ”I guess you got yourself a date, Lodge…”, Veronica thought and returned to her seat with Cheryl.

News were travelling fast at Riverdale High and when lunch had ended everybody knew about Veronica and Archie going to Homecoming together. The only one that didn’t know yet was Betty. The blonde returned to the building after she had smoked another cigarette and while she made her way through the crowd she heard stuff like ”Have you heard about Veronica and Archie?” ”I heard Lodge asked Archie to Homecoming” and ”The new girl asked Andrews out”. Betty normally wasn’t one to believe the rumours that made their way through the halls of Riverdale High, but if it really was true that Archie and Veronica would be going to Homecoming together, she would not study with Veronica for sure. She grabbed her P.E. kit from her locker and then went to the girls locker room. P.E. was Betty’s personal hell. It combined everything she didn’t like. Not that the blonde didn’t like doing sports, she enjoyed it. The problem was Cheryl and their P.E. teacher Mrs Schuster. This woman was the devil reincarnated. Betty was sure, that Mrs Schuster despised her as much as she despised her. She made Betty run extra rounds, gave her no better grade than a C- and made her do impossible stunts during gymnastics that nobody else had to do. Cheryl always had the time of her life, watching Betty get drilled by their teacher.

Betty was lucky. She was the last one to enter the changing room and was able to change without the hateful stares from Cheryl. It wasn’t that she was shy or something but Cheryl body shaming her, was the last thing she needed today. She changed quickly into the white shorts and the yellow and white shirt, that every girl in their P.E. class had to wear and grabbed her water bottle before entering the gym. She was the last one to join, so that meant extra laps. She began jogging in the back of the gym while the other girls sat in a circle sharing gossip. Cheryl was, as always, the main gossiper. Coach Schuster was already in the middle of explaining the curriculum for the year when the door to the gym opened. Veronica entered the gym. The girls turned their heads and Coach Schuster got angry. Betty knew that she was angry because the Coach got the death stare on her face, that normally was reserved for her only. ”YOU´RE LATE!!!!!!YOU CAN RUN LAPS WITH MS SMITH!!!“, she yelled and Veronica looked like she was about to cry. ”Poor Veronica…”, Betty thought and continued running laps. Soon enough Veronica joined her. Veronica was still on the verge of tears when she jogged up next to Betty. The raven-haired girl summoned her courage, wiped away any incoming tears and began talking:”Is she always this mean? It isn’t my fault that I had to get my P.E. kit from the school secretary, who, by the way, is really really slow. How come that you have to run laps? Were you late, too? Did you know that….” ”Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there. You don’t want to be seen talking to me. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m not exactly what you consider very popular and I don’t want to ruin your chances at becoming popular. Furthermore you asked Archie to homecoming and if you forgot he called me the f word in math class. I don't want anything to do with you or Archie or Cheryl or all the other kids in our class!”, she snapped and increased her pace so that Veronica was unable to keep up. She left behind a confused Veronica. She didn’t know what she had done wrong now, sure it probably wasn’t the best idea to ask the guy who insulted her, out. But Betty didn’t know her and wasn't in the cafeteria at lunch, so she also didn’t know that Cheryl basically held a gun to her head (metaphorically spoken), so she had to ask him out. Betty was clearly not as tough on the inside as she was on the outside. And Veronica was determined to find out about Betty’s softer inside.

Veronica couldn’t think about anything else for the rest of the day. Even when she got home, she still thought about the mysterious and somewhat sexy blonde-haired girl. She felt guilty for asking Archie to Homecoming. It had ruined any chance for the two of them to become friends. She went to her room straight away, her parents wouldn’t be home until 7 p.m. anyway. Veronica couldn’t stop thinking about Betty. Familiar feelings and memories came into her head. She would give everything to see her again. When she heard the door open she pushed all those feelings in the very back of her thoughts and heart. She wasn’t allowed to think that way. She put on her ”I´m the perfect daughter“-smile and came greeting her parents.

At the same time at the other side of town, Betty entered her family’s trailer. ”Mom? I´m home!”, she yelled and got no answer as usual. She groaned when she opened the fridge and it was empty. Angry and hungry she went to the back of the trailer were her room was located. It had barely enough space for her bed, her desk and her overcrowded bookshelf. Betty owned a lot of books. They were located in every free millimetre of the tiny room. The books ranged from the ”Nancy Drew“ Series, some classics and poetry to science fiction and new adult books. Her favourite books were placed on her nightstand, in and around her bed. Betty let herself fall down on the bed, that made a creaking sound in response to that. Then she grabbed the first book she got into her hands. ”The Metamorphosis“ by Kafka. She had already read it a few times now but didn’t really see the purpose of the book. I mean a human becoming a bug and his family basically killing him? Kinda weird if you ask me. Jughead Jones, her best friend and companion since she could remember, gave it to her. She slowly got out of her bed, grabbed the book and her keys. Since nobody was home, she decided to give Jughead a visit. He went to school at Southside High, were the almost all the kids from Sunnyside Trailer Park went to school. All the kids, except for Betty. She went up to the blue trailer, that was the Jones's home. She knocked and took a step back. Inside she heard a dog bark and a big bang, then someone cursed and the door opened. A big white dog jumped up on Betty and began licking her cheeks. ”Hotdog! That is disgusting!”, she laughed and the dog stopped and vanished into the inside of the trailer.

Then she saw a half naked Jughead standing in front of her. ”Ummm…I can come by again later, if it is a bad time now…” ”No, it’s okay, I was taking a nap. Come on in!“, Jughead said and scratched the back of his head. ”Nobody home?” ”No, as always. Jellybean is at soccer practice, dad and mom are at work…How was your day?” ”Oh, don’t get me started. It was horrible. I’m in almost every class together with Cheryl and I had to run laps in P.E. again…” ”Oh no! I feel bad for you, maybe you should transfer to Southside High... Here have a beer!”, Jughead said and placed a can of beer on the table in front of her and also opened a can for himself. When she took the first sip of the cold beverage, she instantly felt better. ”Now go on, that can’t be everything.The first day of school is usually much more exciting.” ” I shoved the new girl into a locker, got insulted by Archie Andrews and have to study with the new girl because she is behind on the reading. She missed two months at her old school. Oh and the new girl is going to homecoming with Archie!“, Betty complained and took a big sip of her beer. With every sip she felt more at ease. ”Whats the name of this new girl?”, Jughead asked. ”Veronica Lodge.” Then they went back to silence and just enjoyed each others company. ”Oh I almost forgot. Your book. I read it for like 20 times now and I still don’t get it.”, Betty said and grabbed the book from the back pocket of her jeans. ”Are you sure that you are the right person to study with the new girl? You can’t even understand Kafka!“, he joked, which earned him a smack on the arm from Betty. ” And you don’t understand ’A Midsummer night’s Dream’, I think we’re equally dumb. I have to get home. Mom will be home soon.”, Betty sighed and got up, ”Thanks for the beer.”. Then she left the trailer and made her way through the trailer park to get to her trailer. The sun was already going down and making the scrappy trailer park almost look beautiful.

Her mother was already home. ”Hey mom! How was work?”, Betty greeted her and gave her mom a hug. “Exhausting! You couldn’t imagine! Elisabeth I really want you to go to college, so you don’t have to end up like me. I want you to live a better life than we do now.”, Alice Smith answered her daughter. Alice was a beautiful woman in her 40s. She had beautiful hair, just like Betty and was only a tiny bit taller than her daughter. But you could see the exhaustion in her face and a few grey hairs had started to appear a year ago when she had gotten her new job. The years of addiction had left their mark in her face, but still she was beautiful. She was wearing the same black leather jacket as her daughter and the other members of the serpents. A snake tattoo decorated her left thigh. ”How was your day, honey? Anything new?“, Alice asked her daughter, who looked almost as exhausted as her. ”We got a new student, Veronica Lodge…”, the bullying she kept a secret from her mother. ”Lodge?” ”Yes, why?” ”I went to school with a Hermione Lodge, probably her mother. She and her parents moved away from Riverdale when we were in our senior year. She was always really really nice and friendly, even to us Southsiders. Until about 4 weeks before she moved away. Hermione always had such beautiful hair, even Penelope Blossom envied her hair!”, Alice said, remembering better times. ”Hm…I don’t know about her mom, but Veronica is kinda weird. She missed two months at her old school and then they moved to Riverdale.”, Betty answered, clearly not interested in anything that had to do with the Lodge family. ”Be nice to her Betty! She’s new. Maybe she wants to be your friend.“, Alice said encouragingly. ”I don’t want to be her friend mom! I have friends!” ”I know you have friends here on the Southside but I don’t see you with any people from your school…” ”Okay, this talk ends here. I’m going to my room.”; Betty yelled that last sentence and slammed the door to her room shut. She had almost lost her temper again. That was the one thing that she had from her dad, according to her mom. Her short temper and the anger issues. She let out a frustrated groan at the thought of her dad. Without even realising it, she dug her fingernails into her palm.

Veronica just had to have dinner with her parents and was so damn ready to go to her room. The first day at her new school and the dinner talk had made her sleepy. While Smithers cleaned the table, Hiram began talking: ”So Veronica, how was your day? Did you make any friends? Any interesting boys?” ”It was good. I got onto the cheerleading team and I asked someone out to homecoming…I hope that’s okay?“, Veronica answered, staring at the table. ”As long as it is a boy, we sure are okay with it! It is a boy, isn’t it?”, Hermione asked, internally ready to yell at her daughter, if she gave the wrong answer. ”Yes, it is a boy. Archie Andrews. He is the quarterback on the football team.” ”Oh, I knew his dad, Fred Andrews. They are a fine family! I’m proud of you, Veronica! I’m glad, you left all this crap from last year behind you !“; Hermione said and nodded proudly at her daughter. ”Can I go to my room now? I’m exhausted.“, Veronica asked, trying to escape the conversation. ”You may go Veronica. Good night.", Hiram said and Veronica quickly got up and went to her room. When she finally reached her bathroom she let out a sigh of relief and bowed over the toilet. She grabbed her toothbrush and pushed it down her throat. A few seconds later she gagged and finally got rid of her dinner. She had definitely eaten too much today. She shoved her toothbrush down her throat 3 more times until only bile came out of her mouth. Veronica put the toothbrush back on the sink, flushed the toilet and washed her mouth to get rid of the taste in her mouth. Then the sixteen year old changed into a training bra and some leggings and began running on the treadmill that she had gotten for her 13th birthday 3 years ago. She ran and ran and ran. Trying to shut off all the thoughts in her brain. Trying to forget what had happened last year. Trying to sort out her feelings for Archie. She didn’t even know if there were any feelings involved, since she didn’t even know Archie. And getting rid of the sick thoughts she had of Betty. Black spots started appearing in her vision after she had been running for some time and she had to grab one of the handles on the treadmill so she wouldn’t fall. Veronica decided it was enough for today. The black spots in her vision felt like a reward to her. She took a cold shower, as she thought that she didn’t deserve a hot shower and went to bed. Her hair was still went when her head hit the pillow.

Betty was awake for a long time this night. First the blonde tried reading some poetry, but she got too distracted and just trailed after her thoughts. She thought about Homecoming on Friday. Secretly she wanted to go. She knew that in reality that this wasn’t possible. Cheryl wouldn’t even let her step a foot into the gym. And she wouldn’t get a date anyways. No boy at Riverdale High had ever looked at the blonde and she wasn’t even sure if she liked boys. Sure she did have a crush on Jughead when she was in 3rd grade but she quickly realised that they were just friends. The other Serpent boys saw her as a pal and not as a potential girlfriend. And since the boys at Riverdale High were the ones who bullied her she didn’t have a crush or any interest in them either. The 17 year old groaned in frustration. Love was complicated. Feelings were complicated. Being a young adult was complicated. She finally turned off the pink lamp on her nightstand that she has had since she was about 5 years old and after she shifted around for a few minutes she finally fell asleep. Betty had a unusual dream that night, that started with Veronica changing after gym class and Betty barging in…


End file.
